We read at americanprogress.org, that the American government in 2012 expended more money on immigration enforcement, than it did on “…its combined spending on the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Secret Service, Marshals Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.” While it certainly makes sense that America should want to keep its borders secure, it is also fair to say, that the immigrants crossing the border, are typically those that are desiring to improve their lot in life, and thereby have a strong inclination to be law abiding and to subsequently work hard so as to prove themselves worthy of being in this nation.
One of the things, that is pointed out, again and again by pundits, is that unauthorized immigration into the United States, is illegal. However, what we so find, and of which this is somewhat ignored, is that the reason that so many immigrants desire to come to the United States, is because America at its finest, embodies opportunity, equality, fairness, and hope. So then, it certainly makes sense for people that live in close proximity to the United States but find themselves stuck within hopeless situations that compromises their opportunity for success, or of safety, or of education, to desire to find a sanctuary for themselves and their progeny.
Further to the point, if capitalism and the American way, is the supposed ideal of what a country should want to be and also to represent; then it certainly makes sense for that nation to welcome all comers, because the more people that are denizens of the United States, the more secure and the more economically powerful the United States, so becomes. That is to say, the more people contained within a nation, that are willing to apply themselves and to work hard at their job, and even to take on jobs that most native-born Americans care not for, the better that will be for that nation.
America should be feeling good, that so many people are voting with their feet, by desiring to come here. But rather than feeling good about such, America’s immigration enforcement has determined that the most appropriate way to look upon those illegally entering the United States, is to see them as having violated the law, and thereby to treat them, effectively as criminals, with thereby oppressive carceral conditions placed upon these illegal immigrants in which justice is never swift, and that justice is seldom fair.
The thing about those that are trying to immigrate to America, without expressed authorization, is that we need to remember that these are not only human beings, but typically are human beings that are quite willing to do their good part in working hard, paying taxes, and thereby being of overall benefit for this country. To take these vulnerable people, and to treat them in a way and manner in which their humanity is discounted or effectively ignored, is not only not appropriate, but it isn’t even necessary, from this the supposed land of liberty and freedom.
In this land, we are led to believe that those have pluck, hustle, and determination as part of their makeup, are the type of people, that we should admire. There should then, thereby, be more accommodation of those people that have risked all, to have something of meaning in their life, of which, virtually all those that illegally immigrate to America are not asking for a handout, but merely are trying to get a toehold into that land that claims to welcome those so yearning to be free.